Many packaging pouches for drinks feature a drinking straw attached to the outside of the pouch. The drinking straw which is attached at an angle to one side of the package is pushed through the wall of the pouch at a prescribed place. If the drinking straw is handled incorrectly e.g. by children, it can bend without penetrating the pouch. Another problem is the danger of the sloping straw causing injury, and the possibility of the contents running out due to incorrect handling.
Another flexible pouch is known in which the drinking straw is provided in the interior of the pouch i.e. in the same space as the contents. The self-standing pouch features in the region of the upper edge a notch joining up to a tear line for tearing the pouch open. The length of the drinking straw is chosen such that its lower end is situated at the lowest part of the pouch and its upper end lies above the tear line. With this arrangement the drinking straw is completely accessible after tearing the pouch open. It has however been found disadvantageous that if the pouch is torn open without due care, or if the aid to tearing does not readily function, then on opening the pouch some of its contents can run out in an uncontrolled manner.
In another known pouch for drinks featuring an integral drinking straw, the latter is contained in a kind of pocket which is separated from the actual pouch by means of a film. The straw is flexible in design in the drinking part and is hygienically packed by means of a peel-back film. After tearing off this protective film, the drinking straw is straightened out and--under the action of a small amount of pressure--the lower end pushed out of the inner pocket and into the space in the pouch filled with drinking fluid. Also this form of packaging does not provide any preventive measure against the contents running out after the straw has been pushed into the pouch.
All of the pouches for drinks available on the market at present suffer the disadvantage that, after they have been opened there is no easily manageable possibility for closing them again. This can--as mentioned above--lead to staining as a result of the contents running out of the pouch in an uncontrolled manner.